Method of making knitted fabrics



Dec. 17, 1935. LAWSON 5 AL 1 2,024,174

METHOD OF MAKING KNITTED FABRICS Original Filed Oct. 20, 1930 Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING KNITTED FABRICS Robert H. Lawson, Pawtucket, and Roy F. Lovell,

Providence, R. I., assignors to Hemphill Company, Central Falls,

Massachusetts R. I., a corporation of 5 Claims.

This invention relates to fabric such as stockings or half hose and particularly to methods of incorporating an elastic thread in the fabric. In the drawing the elastic is shown as incorporated in the garter top of a stocking or half hose. This application is a division of application Ser..No. 489,975, filed October 20, 1930, now Patent No. 1,996,648, April 2, 1935.

In the drawing: 1

Fig. 1 is a conventional view of a stocking or half hose provided with a garter top;

Fig. 2 is a view showing a few wales and courses of the garter top;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the fabric, shown in Fig. 2, the adjacent plain and rib wales being laid flat more clearly to show the construction;

Fig. 4 is a view of the top of a stocking or half hose modified with respect to the stocking or half hose shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig.2 but showing elastic thread incorporated in plain fabric.

The stocking or half hose designated by the reference numeral I is, preferably but not necessarily, knitted from the top to the toe thereof. The top of the stocking may be provided with a few tuck or other welt courses 2 followed by a few one and one or other rib courses 3. Thereafter during the knitting of any desired number of courses 4 an elastic thread 5 is-incorporated in the knitted fabric and preferably between the rib and plain wales. The manner of incorporating the elastic thread 5 in the knitted fabric is such that the said elastic thread 5 is, when ini tially fed to the needles, knitted in for one or more wales and as shown in Fig. 2 it is knitted in with the main or body thread 6 at a rib wale l and at an adjacent plain wale 8 during the knitting of the first elastic course 9. The elastic thread may be knitted in together with the main or body thread at certain adjacent dial and cylinder wales throughout the knitting of the elastic courses 4, and as herein shown the said elastic thread 5 is knitted in at Wales I and 8 although such knitting in of the elastic thread at such wales, other than during the knitting of the first and last elastic courses 9 and I0 respectively, is not essential and may be dispensed with. After the knitting of the last elastic course In a few rib courses ll may be knitted following the knitting of which a pull course l2 may be knitted in any suitable manner, the pull course-l2 extending across a desired numberof wales but not across all of the wales of the ribbed top. After the knitting of the pull course any desired number of courses of rib fabric I3 may be knitted for the purpose of providing a usual top.

Thereafter the remaining portions may be knitted in any desired manner and as herein disclosed a transfer is effected after which a plain leg l4 5 of any desired length is knitted with one or more main or body yarns until a point above the heel I5 is reached when one-half more or less of the needles are so controlled as to knit a high splice I6, while at the same time the other or instep needles continue to knit plain fabric with the body yarn or yarns. Following the knitting of the high splice any desired form of heel I6 is knitted upon the completion of which a plain instep I! is knitted with the body yarn or yarns and simultaneously therewith a reinforced or double sole I8 is knitted either with a heavier yarn or with the main or body yarn or yarns and an additional reinforcing yarn. A few courses short of the toe l9 knitting of the double sole I8 is discontinued whereupon all of the plain needles knit a few plain, ring toe courses 2!) and preferably with a thread or yarn which is thereafter knitted by the needles during the knitting of the toe l9.

Although as hereinbefore described the stocking is knitted from the top to the toe the knitting may obviously be begun at the toe and continued to the top in which event the steps of knitting hereinbefore described will follow one another but in the reverse order. The pull course l2 hereinbefore described is for the purpose of permitting a separation between the elastic courses 4 and the remaining portion of the ribbed top 13 whereby the elastic top 4 of the ribbed portion may, when the stocking is worn, assume a position at an angle with respect to the remaining portions of the stock- .ing or in other words assume an angle with respect to the leg of the stocking which is ordinarily assumed by the garter in common use. Although as hereinbefore described the knitting of a pull course may be resorted to in order to efiect the desired separation between the elastic top and the leg of the stocking, the same result may be obtained by cutting across the wales of the stocking at the place indicated by the numeral I2. Whether the separation is due to the knitting of the pull courses or a cutting of the wales, sewing stitches may subsequently be applied to the stocking top as indicated at 2|, Fig. 1, thereby to prevent running of the severed or disconnected wales.

In Fig. 4 is shown a stocking top slightly modified as compared with the stocking or half hose disclosed in Fig. 1 to the extent that the knitting in of a pull course or the severing of wales as indicated at I2, Fig. 1, is dispensed with, the stocking top shown in Fig. 4, being provided with welt courses 2, rib courses 3, elastic courses 4, and other rib courses I3 which are knitted in the same manner as are the corresponding courses, Fig. 1.

If it be desired to knit in the elastic thread throughout all of the courses of adjacent plain and rib wales, I and 8, the plain needle which knits the wale I may be so positioned as to catch the elastic thread in its hook so that thereafter, when the said needle is moved to. a position to draw its stitch over adjacent rib needles, the elastic thread 5 will be caught and knitted in by the next following. rib needle which needle knits the wale 8. The knitting in of the elastic thread at any wale is not, however, essential but the friction between the elastic thread and the wales may be relied upon to maintain the said elastic other binder, which includes a clamp and a cutter, and which binder is preferably located upon the upper face of a dial cap when knitting rib or upon the upper or other face of a binder plate when knitting plain. However, a special form of clamping and cutting mechanism may be used if desired, but in any event it is essential that some means he provided for temporarily retaining the end of the elastic thread within the needle circle, when knitting on a circular machine, so that when the thread guide for the elastic thread 5 is dropped to a feeding position the said elastic thread may properly be fed to the needles and between adjacent or other wales of the fabric.

Although as herein disclosed the elastic thread 5 is laid between adjacent rib .and plain wales, as when knitting one and one rib, it is obvious that the said elastic thread may be bound in and held between rib and plain wales when knitting rib fabric in proportions other than one and one rib.

The rib stocking or half hose hereinbefore disclosed may be knitted upon any plain machine to which rib tops are transferred or upon any machine adapted to knit rib and plain fabric,=

I 5 is to feed such elastic thread substantially at the verge of. the cylinder and dial and with the cylinder needles in their lowered or depressed positions so that thereafter when the cylinder needles rise to take thread and thereafter draw the same over the dial needles, the elastic threadwill be incorporated in the fabric and held between dial and cylinder wales; but the preferred method of feeding the elastic thread to the needles is to feed such elastic thread below the latches of raised cylinder needles and below the level ofthedial needles which are in retracted position.. Thereafter the dial needles are projected and the cyl nder needles are moved to stitch drawing position in the usual manner and as the cylinder needles reach their lowermost position the elastic thread 5 moves to a position against the fabric such as indicated in Fig. 2 in the patent to Riley 630,110, August 1, 1899. The 5 said patent to Riley discloses the first above described method for incorporating the. elastic thread between the plain and rib, wales of a fabric and although the second described method is different from that disclosed in the patent 1o nevertheless its effect is the same in that the elastic is finally bound or held between plain and rib wales.

Although as hereinbefore disclosed the elastic thread 5 is incorporated between rib and plain l5 wales, the top 22 of the stocking may be knitted plain as shown in Fig. 5, i. e., without rib wales, and extremely loose or with' relatively long stitches. The elastic thread 5 is incorporated in the fabric by passing forward of wales 23 and 20 back of adjacent wales 24 and, if desired, may occasionally be knitted in at one or more of the wales as wale 25. e

' One method of incorporating an elastic thread in a plain fabric consists in lowering alternate 25 or other groups of needles to such a position that the elastic thread may be fed over the tops of the said lowered needles and raising the intermediate ,or other groups of needles to such a position that the said elastic thread may be laid against or adjacent to the'shanks thereof and below the needle latches. Thereafter the alternate cylinder needles are raised to the level of the intermediate needles, the elastic thread then being back of the said alternate needles and forward of the shanks of the intermediate needles.

Another method of incorporating the elastic thread in plain fabric consists in laterally deflect ing alternate or other groups of needles at the upper ends thereof and laying the elastic thread 40 between the deflected, alternate needles and the intermediate needles, the thread being laid between the needlesin such a manner as to pass below the latches of the said needles. By the method of feeding elastic thread to the needles just described the said elastic thread is held between the shanks of the alternate needles and the shanks of the intermediate needles.

Regardless of the method employed for feeding the elastic thread between needles the result is the same, and thereafter as the needles descend in the usual manner to knit the main thread or threads, the elastic thread becomes incorporated in the fabric and is held between the alternate or other groups of wales and the intermediate wales.

In any case the elastic thread, where it is not knitted in, passesbetween the wales in such a manner as to become part of the fabric.

Preferably the elastic thread 5 is fed to the needle under as light a tension as possible and if desired the said elastic thread may be measured out or fed to the needles by means of rotating rolls whereby definite lengths of such elastic thread may be fed to the needles during the knitting of each course; in other words, if desired, the elastic thread may be fed to the needle by means of a so-called positive feed.

The invention hereinbefore disclosed is applicable either to a half hose or to a stocking of full length and although in certain of the claims reference is made to a stocking nevertheless there is no intention of thereby limiting the invention to a full length stocking, the term stocking being used in a generic sense.

We claim:

1. A method of incorporating an elastic thread in a knitted fabric consisting in holding one end of such elastic thread within a circle of needles with the elastic thread extending from said end to the source of supply, and thereafter moving the elastic thread to a feeding position with respect to the needles and causing the said elastic thread to be knitted into the fabric in some of the stitches and incorporated in the fabric when not knitted by passing in front of some of the stitches and in back of other and adjacent stitches.

2. A method of incorporating an elastic thread in a knitted fabric consisting in holding one end of such elastic thread at one side of a series of needles with the elastic thread extending from said end to the source of supply, and thereafter moving the elastic thread to a feeding position with respect to the needles and causing the said elastic thread to be knitted into the fabric in some of the stitches and incorporated in the fabric when not knitted by passing in front of some of the stitches and in back of other and adjacent stitches.

3. A method of incorporating an elastic thread in a.knitted fabric consisting in temporarily retaining one end of such elastic thread and main-' taining the said thread in such a position as not to be incorporated in the knitted fabric, thereafter moving the elastic thread between adjacent needles and incorporating the said thread in the fabric in such a manner as to knit the elastic thread in some of the stitches only, the elastic thread where not knitted into the fabric passing back of some .of the stitches and in front of 3 others.

4. A method of knitting a. fabric including knitting a. relatively non-elastic yam by all the needles and incorporating an elastic thread in the said fabric by moving said elastic thread to a 10 feeding position and causing the said thread to be engaged by the hooks of some of the needles but not by the hooks of other and adjacent needles, and knitting the fabric in such a way as to cause the thread to be held at some of the wales and to 15 pass back of some of the wales and in front of the other wales.

5. A method of knitting a fabric including knitting a relatively non-elastic yam by all the needles and incorporating an elastic thread in the said fabric by moving said elasticthread to L feeding position and causing the said thread to be engaged and knitted by some of the needles but not by other and adjacent needles, and knitting v the fabric in such a way as to cause the thread 25 to be held by passing back of alternate wales and in front of intermediate wales.

ROBERT H. LAWSON. ROY F. LOVELL. 

